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Based on diaries and e-mail correspondence that architect Suad Amiry kept from 1981 to 2004, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law evokes the frustrations, cabin fever, and downright misery of daily life in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Amiry writes with elegance and humor about the enormous difficulty of moving from one place to another, the torture of falling in love with someone from another town, the absurdity of her dog receiving a Jerusalem identity card when thousands of Palestinians could not, and the trials of having her ninety-two-year-old mother-in-law living in her house during a forty-two day curfew. With a wickedly sharp ear for dialogue and a keen eye for detail, Amiry gives us an original, ironic, and firsthand glimpse into the absurdity — and agony — of life in the Occupied Territories.

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Suad Amiry (Arabic: سعاد العامري) is a Palestinian writer and architect has been living in Ramallah since 1981.Born in Damascus, Amiry grew up between Amman, Damascus, Beirut and Cairo. She studied architecture at the American University of Beirut, Michigan, US, and in Edinburgh, Scotland.Amiry is author of the well-known book Sharon and My Mother-in-Law which has been translated into 17 languages and was awarded the prestigious 2004 Viareggio Prize.She is the founder and Director of the Riwaq: Centre for Architectural Conservation. Amiry is the vice-president of the Board of Trustees of Birzeit University.Her book Menopausal Palestine: Women at the Edge was published in India by Women Unlimited (2010) Her latest book Nothing to Lose But your Life, has been published by Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation April 2010. Amiry lives in Ramallah with her husband, the academic and political activist Salim Tamari.